All We Do Crumbles
by Browncoats and Floral Bonnets
Summary: A collection of short snapshots depicting how various MCU characters react to the events at the end of Infinity War. Needless to say, big time spoilers ahead. Also contains major character death(s). Rating for a bit of language.


Title from a Kansas song which will remain unnamed

xxx

 **WAKANDA**

The image of Bucky crumbling away plays over and over in his mind, and slowly he realizes what must've happened. What's happening.

Thanos.

A simple snap of his fingers.

 _He won._

"Oh, god." He's still in shock, and the words tumble out of his mouth before he knows he's saying them. He closes his eyes, but then all he can see is the look on Bucky's face, so he opens them. But when he does that, all he can see is the looks on his friends' faces. He imagines his own expression mirrors theirs. Pain, fear, confusion, uncertainty.

Oh, God.

Steve lifts his eyes upward at the absurdly blue sky, so calm and still despite the horror below.

God.

 _Where were you in all this?_

 **WAVERLY, IOWA**

Clint holds Nathaniel to his chest as he frantically makes his way through the house.

"Laura? Cooper!"

He's not sure what he just witnessed (his daughter, sweet Lila, there one moment and dissolved into nothing the next), but he can sense the finality of it. The heaviness. Something big has happened, something terrible, something even the Avengers couldn't stop.

"Laura! Cooper! Please, answer me!" His voice cracks as he calls out for his family, panic mounting with each empty room. Nathaniel is crying now, screaming for his mom, and Clint shushes him as best he can between his ragged breaths and increasingly frenzied calls.

When he makes it out of the house without seeing his wife or son, Clint knows what it means. He runs to the barn anyway, and searches every inch of it. Only when he's sure his family isn't there does the strength drain from and he staggers forward and falls to his knees.

He wraps his arms around Nathaniel, holding him close and tight, and closes his eyes. A breath later, his cries join those of his child.

 **HELL'S KITCHEN, NEW YORK, NEW YORK**

"Holy shit. This is it, isn't it? The world's ending."

Karen doesn't sound scared, or even worried. Awestruck, maybe. Almost disappointed. She looks up at Foggy with red-rimmed eyes, flinching as someone near them turns to dust. Foggy's heart pounds as people around them dissolve and are carried away on the wind.

If he somehow makes it through this, it'll be the sounds of the people who are left that will haunt him the most.

"Come here," he says softly, and pulls Karen into a tight hug. He plants a kiss on the top of her head then sighs, closing his eyes and resting his chin in the place where his lips had been a moment before. "If this _is_ it, I'm glad I'm with you."

Foggy's heart hammering in his chest as he waits, wondering if one of them will be left with empty arms or if both of them will vanish. But a few minutes pass, and both of them are still standing. He opens his eyes and looks at Karen, who's already staring up at him.

"And if this isn't it?" she says. Someone nearby begins to scream. "What do we do now?"

 **SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA**

"Daddy, what's happening?" Cassie cries, looking at her father with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, peanut. It's gonna be okay," he says with a half-smile, and reaches out to take Cassie's hand. His fingers barely brush hers before he vanishes like the others, and Cassie screams. She's still screaming when her phone rings. Her hands tremble as she reaches into her pocket, her whole body shaking with sobs. She doesn't answer in time, but it rings again and she flips it open, putting it to her ear.

She's crying too hard to speak.

" _Cassie? Cassie, sweetie, are you there? Are you okay? It's Jim Paxton. Are you there?"_

"Uh huh," she manages.

" _Thank god. Where are you, hon?"_

"I'm-" She tries to take a deep breath, but the tears are making it difficult.

" _Cassie are you hurt?"_

"N-no. D-Dad's gone!"

Paxton goes quiet, and Cassie fees her chest tighten.

 _Is he gone, too?_

"Paxton?"

When he answers, his voice sounds funny. " _I'm...I'm here. Sweetie, you just stay put, alright? Stay on the line and stay where you are. I'm coming to you, okay? You just stay put. I'll be there soon."_

"Kay." She barely gets the word out before she's sobbing again. The open phone slips from her hand and onto the seat behind her.

She doesn't hear the squeal of brakes or the sound of breaking glass and crunching metal on the other side of the phone-call, or the voices of the paramedics that arrive on the scene.

She's still sitting there an hour later when two police officers approach her.

"I'm supposed to stay here," she says when one of them offers to take her to the police station and call her mom. "I told him I would wait."

"Told who, kiddo?"

"Jim Paxton."

The two officers look at each other, and when they look back at Cassie their eyebrows are raised and they look worried.

"Cassie...I think you'd better come with us."

 **QUEENS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK**

"Ned?"

" _May! Hi! Have you seen what-"_

"Where is Peter?" May interrupts, flipping through the channels to see if she can catch a glimpse of her spandex-clad nephew.

" _Uuuh…"_

"Ned, you had better answer me _right now_ , or I swear to god I will-"

" _Alright! He…"_ He lowers his voice to a whisper. " _He went to fight the aliens."_

May rests her forehead in her hand and tries not to let the anger and fear come through in her voice. "Are you sure?"

" _Yeah. I'm sorry."_

May takes a deep breath. The kid sounds terrified, and even though she's pretty sure he probably played a part in Peter sneaking off, she doesn't want to worry him more. "It's okay. It's not your fault, Ned. Stay safe out there.'

" _Okay."_

"Okay. Bye." She hangs up and scrolls through her contacts until she finds the one she's looking for. It's a special number Pepper had given her for emergencies that patches straight through to the suit. "Tony Stark, you monumental asshole, you better answer _right now_!"

Damn that fool of a man for encouraging a fifteen year old kid to run around trying to be a superhero. Every time he comes home late, or doesn't answer his cell, she's terrified that he's gotten into trouble too big to handle. Every time her phone rings and she sees an unknown number, her heart skips a beat as she wonders if it's the police or a hospital or a _morgue_ , calling to tell her that he's been arrested or hurt or killed.

" _I'm sorry, the number you-"_

May hangs up and tries a few more times, but none of her calls go through.

She's about to call Pepper when she looks up at the tv and sees and news anchor turn to dust, and the phone falls from her grip.

"Peter."

It's the last thing she says.

xxx


End file.
